This is a proposal to study the dispersion and evaporation of biologiocal fluids that are violently emitted (as in sneezing and coughing). These fluids play an important role in pathogen propagation and the spreading out of disease through the air and through systems for circulating air in buildings and vehicles.
The proposed research will explore the role played by fluid dynamics in disease transmission. The problems examined involve several fluid dynamics problems, including multiphase flows, turbulent flows, small-scale surface tension dominated flows and elastic complex and non-Newtonian flows. The proposed research will specifically examine, with detailed experimental measurements, the differences between the evaporation processes of mucsoalivary fluid droplets ejected during violent expirations in the form of droplets and those of water droplets. It is also proposed to investigate how the ejection mechanism of the mucosalivary fluid droplets in dense sneeze or cough suspensions affects their evaporation process when compared to their evaporation in isolation or dilute suspensions. Fundamental physical laws and mathematical modeling will be used to gain insights with general applicability for several diseases. Results from this research might lead to the development of a new area of research altogether: the area between rigorous fluid dynamics and mathematical modeling of epidemiology. Mentoring of students is proposed, while the PI and her team will also reach out to the MIT Museum in Cambridge for the development of activities that target the public.
